Share permissions and organization of content in an application with multiple levels of organizational hierarchy

Abstract

Share permissions and organization of content in an application with multiple levels of organizational hierarchy is provided. In some examples, an application (or a hosted service) may provide content generation and processing capability far different types of content. Content may be organized in hierarchical levels and users may be enabled to share different levels of content with other users, see the sharing status, define/manage sharing parameters for different levels and perform actions on shared content such as copying, moving, creating, editing, etc.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A server configured to provide share permissions and organization of content with multiple levels of organizational hierarchy, the server comprising:
 a memory configured to store instructions; 
 a processor coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute a content service, wherein the content service includes: 
 a content processing module that, when executed by the processor, directs the server to: 
 receive, from a first user, a content to be stored in one of a plurality of hierarchically organized containers, the containers comprising a notebook, wherein the content is one or more of created, edited, or organized by the first user; and 
 a sharing module that, when executed by the processor, directs the server to: 
 receive, from the first user, a request to share the content within the notebook; 
 in response to receipt of the request, share the content with another user by granting a permission for one or more of editing or organizing the content, wherein the permission associated with the content is distinct from a second permission granted to the other user for a higher level container of the plurality of hierarchically organized containers that includes the container with the content; 
 provide, to the first user, a first sharing status in a form of a first share vector representing a sharing status of each of the plurality of hierarchically organized containers, including the container with the content; 
 provide, to the other user, a second sharing status in a form of a second share vector representing a sharing status of the container with the content; 
 after granting the permission for the one or more of the editing or the organizing of the content to the other user, receive, from first the user, a request to share the higher level container that includes the container with the content within the notebook; 
 in response to receipt of the request to share the higher level container, grant the other user the second permission; 
 provide, to the first user, an updated first sharing status in a form of a third share vector representing the sharing status of each of the plurality of hierarchically organized containers over time from the first share vector, including the higher level container with the content; and 
 provide, to the other user, an updated second sharing status in a form of a fourth share vector representing the sharing status over time from the second share vector of both the container with the content and the higher level container with the content. 
 
     
     
       2. The server of  claim 1 , wherein the permission is one of user-defined, content service default, and inherited from the higher level container that contains the container associated with the content. 
     
     
       3. The server of  claim 1 , wherein the granted permission includes one or more of copy permission, move permission, edit permission, save permission, and create new content permission. 
     
     
       4. The server of  claim 1 , wherein the content processing module is further configured to provide for display a user interface that enables the user to organize containers of content based on one or more of user-defined and default categories. 
     
     
       5. The server of  claim 4 , wherein the sharing module is further configured to:
 control one or more indicators displayed on the user interface, the one or more indicators representing sharing status of containers and content within the containers. 
 
     
     
       6. The server of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more indicators represent information associated with one or more of: whether the content is shared, users with whom the content is shared, sharing permissions given to the users, whether an entire container is shared, whether sub-containers with a container are shared, and a sharing history. 
     
     
       7. The server of  claim 5 , wherein the one or more indicators employ one or more of a textual scheme, a graphic scheme, a color scheme, a highlighting scheme, and a shading scheme. 
     
     
       8. The server of  claim 1 , wherein the content includes one or more of textual data, graphic data, images, audio data, and video data. 
     
     
       9. A method for providing share permissions and organization of content with multiple levels of organizational hierarchy, the method comprising:
 at a content processing module executed on a computing device: 
 receiving, from a first user, a content to be stored in one of a plurality of hierarchically organized containers, the containers comprising a notebook, wherein the content is one or more of created, edited, or organized by the first user; and 
 at a sharing module executed on the computing device: 
 receiving, from the first user, a request to share the content within the notebook; 
 in response to receipt of the request, sharing the content with another user by granting a permission for one or more of editing or organizing the content, wherein the permission associated with the content is distinct from a second permission granted to the other user for a higher level container that includes the container with the content; 
 providing, to the first user, a first sharing status in a form of a first share vector representing a sharing status of each of the plurality of hierarchically organized containers over time; 
 providing, to the other user, a second sharing status in a form of a second share vector representing a sharing status of the container with the content over time; 
 after granting the permission for the one or more of the editing or the organizing of the content to the other user, receiving, from the first user, a request to share the higher level container that includes the container with the content within the notebook; 
 in response to receipt of the request to share the higher level container, granting the other user the second permission; 
 providing, to the first user, an updated first sharing status in a form of a third share vector representing the sharing status of each of the plurality of hierarchically organized containers over time from the first share vector, including the higher level container with the content; and 
 providing, to the other user, an updated second sharing status in a form of a fourth share vector representing the sharing status over time from the second share vector of both the container with the content and the higher level container with the content. 
 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 at the sharing module executed on the computing device: 
 enabling a share recipient to place a portion of the content into a lower level container with different permissions without the portion of content inheriting the container's permissions. 
 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 at the content processing module executed on the computing device: 
 if another content is received through a share action with a defined permission, saving the other content within a container such that the defined permission is preserved; and 
 if the other content is received through the share action without the defined permission, saving the other content as a private copy. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 at the content processing module executed on the computing device: 
 organizing containers of content based on one or more of user-defined and default categories through a user interface. 
 
     
     
       13. A computer-readable memory device with instructions stored thereon for providing share permissions and organization of content with multiple levels of organizational hierarchy in a notebook application, the instructions comprising:
 a content processing module, when executed on a computing device: 
 receiving, from first a user, a content to be stored in one of a plurality of hierarchically organized containers, wherein the content is one or more of created, edited, or organized by the first user; and 
 providing a user interface that enables the user to organize containers of the content based on one or more of user-defined and default categories, wherein levels of containers include notebooks, sections, and pages; and 
 a sharing module, when executed on the computing device: 
 receiving, from the first user, a request to share the content within the notebook from the first user; 
 in response to receipt of the request, sharing the content with another user by granting a permission for one or more of editing or organizing the content, wherein the permission associated with the content is distinct from a second permission for a higher level container of the plurality of hierarchically organized containers that includes the container with the content; 
 providing, to the first user, a first sharing status in a form of a first share vector representing a sharing status of each of the plurality of hierarchically organized containers, including the container with the content over time; and 
 providing, to the other user, a second sharing status in a form of a second share vector representing a sharing status of the container with the content over time; 
 after granting the permission for the one or more of the editing or the organizing of the content to the other user, receiving, from the first user, a request to share the higher level container that includes the container with the content within the notebook; 
 in response to receipt of the request to share the higher level container, granting the other user the second permission; 
 providing, to the first user, an updated first sharing status in a form of a third share vector representing the sharing status of each of the plurality of hierarchically organized containers over time from the first share vector, including the higher level container with the content; and 
 providing, to the other user, an updated second sharing status in a form of a fourth share vector representing the sharing status over time from the second share vector of both the container with the content and the higher level container with the content. 
 
     
     
       14. The computer-readable memory device of  claim 13 , wherein the content includes one or more of a word processing document, a spreadsheet, a presentation document, an email, a text message, a graphic file, an ink entry, an audio file, a video file, and a communication recording. 
     
     
       15. The computer-readable memory device of  claim 13 , wherein the instructions further comprise:
 at the sharing module executed on the computing device: 
 displaying one or more indicators on the user interface in conjunction with representations of the containers, the indicators representing information associated with one or more of: whether the content is shared, users with whom the content is shared, permissions granted to the users, whether an entire container is shared, whether sub-containers within a container are shared, and a sharing history. 
 
     
     
       16. The computer-readable memory device of  claim 15 , wherein the represented information is displayed through a separate user interface upon one of clicking on an indicator and hovering over the indicator. 
     
     
       17. The computer-readable memory device of  claim 15 , wherein the instructions further comprise:
 at the sharing module executed on the computing device: 
 indicating one or more of whether a container includes sub-containers, whether contents of a container have similar share permissions, and whether the contents of the container are shared through the representations of the containers on the user interface.